Speed indicator and recorder.



A. D. RENPRO. SPEED INDICATOR AND RECORDER.

APPLICATION FILLED P3314, 1910.

Patented Jan. 17,1911.

5 SHEETS-$11321 1.

1 l '1 TA 'YIL'SS 15S.

6 mm 1 v 11.1). RENPRO.

SPEED INDICATOR AND RECORDER.- APPLIOATIOH FILED-FEB. 14,1910.

982,021 Patented Jan 17,1911.

5 BKEETB-SIIET 2.

H'ITVVESSES. 6:6

W (Lg/1416M 1.7V V'JCNTUIR. 5 421 1 061% a k M "fitt orneys.

1 A. D.v RENFRO.

SPEED INDICATOR AND RECORDER.

APPLICATION FILED PERM, 1910.

5 SHEETBSHEET 3.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

w Wittorneys.

A. D. RENFRO. SPEED 1111110111103 AND 11130911111111.

APYLIOATIOK FILE) FEB. 14, 1910.

982,021. 1 Patvnted Jan. 17,1911.

5 BHEETS-BHBET 4.

WITNESSES; 6.6

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SPEED 11111101111011 AND 112001111311.

APPLICATION FILED PERI-1, 19101 Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

5 SHEETS-$113121 [.N' VE N TOR.

YVITJVESSES.

.elttorneys.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. ALVA D. RENFRO, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN,ASSIGNOB TO RENFRO SPEED-O-METEE COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ACORPORATION OF MICIIIGANZ,

SPEED INDICATOR AND RECORDER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVA D. Rnnrno, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Specification of LettersPatent.

Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certaiunewand useful Improvement in Speed Indlcators and Recorders, and declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to speed indlcators and recorders, and has forits object an improved device of this type adapted to record on aclock-actuated sheet, or ribbon, the various speeds attained by avehicle whereon the device is mounted, and the exact time ofthe'attainment of each speed contemporaneously with the indication ofeach speed, as this varies from one moment to another, to the eye of anobserver, by means of the-passage of an indicating arrow over a suitablymarked dial.

In the drawings,Figure 1, is a plan view of the face of the instrumentwith the pr1nc1- pal part of the operative mechanism covered by the topdial; the casing is shown slightly ln-perspective. Fig. 2, is a planView, from above, withthe covering glass top and the external indicatingparts removed so as to show the operative parts. tudinal section takenalong the line aa of Fig. 2, some of the parts thus exposed being shownin section and some in elevation. Fig. 4, is a view of a portion of therecord sheet. Fig. 5, is a front elevation of the Fig. 3, is a longi-.

mechanism for holding and winding and unwinding the recording ribbons.an elevation of the left hand end' of thedevice shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7,is an elevation Fig. 6, 1s

of'the right hand end of the device shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 8, is asectional elevation along the line ?)b, Fig. 5, looking in the directionof the arrow there shown. Fig. 9, is a sec-' tional elevation of thedrum upon which the record ribbon is wound as it is marked by therecording pen, after having beenun'-- -mentary sectional view of thespring detent member whereby the ribbon-actuating roll is thrown into orout of operative engagement with the re latin mechanism connected withthe clock. Fig. 12, is a perspective of the door of the casing whosemovement into position of closure controls the movement of this detentpiece. Fig. 13, is a plan view of the carriage which is actuated by thespeed of movement of the overnor member,'whose indicated variations inspeed are both shown and recorded.

Therotative movement 'of the traction wheels of the vehicleis-communicated by means of a flexible shaft to the terminal 1, on whoseinner end, which extends within the casing 2, is carried the gear wheel3 which meshes with the gear wheel 1 which Patented Jan. 17, 1911:Application filed February 14, 1910. Serial No. 543,894.

is carried on the horizontal shaft 5, which is journaled in the uprights7 on each side of the 'device. Slidably mounted on this shaft 5 is thegovernor member 8-, whose shaft-surrounding collar 9 engages against thepoint of the jaw member 11, whose body part 12 is slidably mounted on ashaft 13,.

which is supportedby uprights 1 1 in'a position parallel to and somewhathigher than the shaft 5. This jaw member 11 is yieldingly held againstthe collar 9, or against a washer interposed between them and through itagainst 'the collar 9, by means of the leaf spring 15 which is carriedby one of the uprights 14, and whose pressure is adjustable by means ofthe screw 16 which is mounted upon an attached portion of the uprightmembers.

\Vhen the governor member is under-no centrifugalstrain and its parts 8"consequently lie closely against the shaft 5, it can,

because of its slidability' t-herealong, yield to the resilient pressureof the leaf spring 15,

and be pushed to the extreme left of its possible line of travel alongthe shaft. When the governor is in this position and the carriage member12 is pushed as far to the left as it will go by the leaf spring 15,

the ratchet bar 17 which it carries on its top, and which moves with it,is actuated by the intermeshing gear wheel 18 so as to swing the shaft19, whereon'it is mounted, in a counter-clockwise direction, thuscausing the indicating arrow 20 and the pencarrying arm 21 to swing to azero position with respect to the visible indicating dial 6 andto thesubdivided recor'd sheet'24 respectively. When the movement of the caris communicated through the flexible shaft as to make its separable ballmembers 8 move away from the shaft, consequently causing the collarmember 9 to move from left to right therealong, and consequently forcingthe jaw 11 therealong against the resilient pressure of the leaf spring15. This, in turn,'actuates the shaft 19 through the medium of theratchet bar 17, and causes both the indicating arrow 20 and thepencarrying arm 21 to move across the marked dial and recording sheetrespectively. The higher the speed of rotation of the flexible shaft,the farther the governing member is forced away from its supportingshaft, and, consequently, the farther from left to right are these partsmoved. The worm 10 on the shaft 5 intermeshes with a correspondingportion of the perpendicularly located shaft 60, by which the rotativemovement of the shaft 1 is also communicated to the odometer 60, withwhose details this disclosure is not concerned.

Movably mounted in track ways 22, in the bottom of about the middleportion of the device, is the su orting framework 23 of the device forholdin and windin and unwinding the record ribbon 24, which is primarilystored on the drum 25 which is rotatably mounted in the end frameportions 23. The record ribbon 24 is passed from it over the runningrollers 26 and over the markin table 27, which is parallel with theplane ofthe dial of the device, to a receiving roller 28 which issimilarly journaled on a framework 23 and which carries, preferably onits right hand end, a pair of ratchet wheels 29 and 30. Of these thewheel 30 is in intermeshing engagement with the .much larger wheel 31WhlCll is rotatabl supported upon a projecting tongue 32 of t ecarriage, or frame, 23, an by whose rotation manually, when the deviceis first prepared for use, the power spring 33 is wound to a state oftension.

In controlling engagement with the teeth of the wheel 29 is theprojecting point 34 of the leaf spring 35, which is mounted upon theframe 23, and which, so long as it is in engagement with the teeth ofthe wheel 29, revents its rotation, and thereby the win ing of therecord sheet from the storage drum 25 out of the receiving drum 28,underthe actuation of the spring 33. When the ribbon carriage is infully inserted position with respect to the casing and remainingportions of the device, the door 38 may be slid into place in itshearings in the casing. In such podtion the laterally projecting tongue37 engages under the t: of the spring 35 in a way to disen ge it fg omconnection with the teeth of t wheel 29, and thus allow it to receiveactuation from the wound-up spring 33. Still another shaft 89 I isrotatably journaled in the frame 23. Near each end it carries the paperengaging wheels 40 whose teeth are adapted to engage the paper withsufficient perforating effect to firmly seize it, for par oses of timingregulation, as these toothe wheels rotate. At one end of the shaft 39(preferably the left end, because of the presence of the coil spring andits attached parts at the other end of the carriage 23) there is fixedto the shaft the gear wheel 42 which, when the carriage is in fullyinserted position, is adapted to intermesh with the ear wheel 43 whichis carried on the end 0 the shaft 44 by which, through the medium of thegear wheel 45 whose proportionate size has been made the subject ofproper calculation, timed actuation is communicable to the record sheetfrom the clock mechanism 45. While this communication from the medium ofthe shaft 44 might, without departure from the spirit of this invention,involve the use of merely a one piece shaft, it is easy to conceive thatin the use of the device the last end of the recordin ribbon would onlyinfrequently be reache at the same time that the clock mechanism wouldrun down, and that, therefore, the timed actuation of the ribbon throughthe medium of the toothed wheel 40 would result in tearing the last endof the recording ribbon from its supporting roll, because of thiscontinued movement of the shaft due to the yet active clock mechanism.In order, therefore, that this may be obviated, I provide on the collarof the gear wheel 45 a ratchet toothed edge 46 which is in engagementwith a com )lementarily toothed sleeve 47, which is s idable lengthwiseof the shaft 44but is held from rotative movement with respect theretoby the pin 48, which engages in its cut away portion 47. This sleeve isyieldingly held in enga ement with the toothed portion of the w eelmember 45 by the spring 49, so that, so long as the ribbon feed 15 runsmoothly and uninterruptedly, the pressure of the spring 49 will keepthe toothed parts 46 and 47 in engagement and the entire movement of theclock will be duly oommunicated through the shaft 44 to the recordribbon. ribbon is reached, the pull of its end portion againstseparation from its storage drum is such that the further rotation ofthe shaft 44 is resisted to such a degree that the toothed portion 46 ofthe gear wheel 45 is caused to slip, with respect to the toothed portion46, instead of carrying it with it. As the high points of the teethattain a position opposite to one another in this ro' tation the sleeve47 is forced against the resilienc of the sleeve 48 along the shaft 44-in the 'rection of the gear wheel 43, but. when the continued rotationof the wheel 45 carries the points of the teeth past such When, however,the end of the engagement.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have illustrated my preferred mechanism forconnecting the paste board storage tube, whereon the beginning terminalof the recording ribbon is mounted, with the journaled metal partspermanently carried by the device. This consists of a drum or sleeve 51which is adapted to be slipped within the hollowed i center of the pasteboard storage drum. Ex-

tending therethrough is the shaft 52, and extending through an aperture53 in the side thereof is a pivoted arm 54 whose sharpened point may beprojectedto a position outside of the plane of the outer face of thetube. 51. lVhen the point 56' of this arm is opposite the portion 52" ofthe shaft, the

arm falls so far within the aperture 53 that the point lies within theplane of the face of the casing 51, but when, by themovement of theshaft within and lengthwise of the tube 51, the point- 56 is moved intothe grom'e 57, it is projected without the apertured portion of thecasing and into the yielding mass of thepaste board so that it is heldfrom either rotation or lengthwise. movement with respect to thesupporting casing 51, and thus the full rotative movement imparted tothe shaft casing 51 is communicated to a ribbon as desired. lVhen theremoval of the paste board drum is desired, the movement of the shaft 52lengthwise of the casing may be effected by a fairly firm pressure ofthe sine against a solid object so as to avoid the displacement of thepoint 56 from the groove 57, thus permitting the pasteboard-engagingpoint to fall again within the aperture 53. Upon a projecting shoulder19 of the shaft .19 is mounted the carriage 58 whereon is supported thetank, or tube, 59 in which the ink for the recording pen is stored.Extending from the forward end of this tank, and of course incommunication with the interior thereof, is the recording finger 60 onwhose end is carried the pen 61 which is adapted to trace its movementsunder the actuation of the governor member, as heretofore described, onthe recording sheet which is passing over the table 27 immediatelybeneath its point, thus tracing in a line varying according to the speedof the vehicle the various speeds attained.

The details of my preferred pen mech auism, I make no claim to in thisapplication.

Claims p 1. A speed indicator and recorder, having, in combination witha rotatable shaft, a ball governor carried thereby, a pair .of rollersupon and between which a record sheet is carried, anindicating andmarking arm pivotally supported in a generally lengthwise position withrespect to the record sheet, said arm having an operative con-- nectionwith said ball governor, whereby it is actuated from its position ofrest with its marking point adjacent one edgeof the sheet by themovement of said ball governor, proportionately to the rotative speedthereof, spring actuated means foractuat ing said rollers to cause thetravelof the record sheet from one roller to the other, a

clock mechanism for regulating the speed of travel of the record sheet,and an automatically disconnectible shaft between the clock mechanismand one of the rollers, whereby actuation is imparted therefrom to theroller only when its speed is not consonant with the desired rate asdetermined by the clock mechanism, substantially as described.

2. In a speed indicator and recorder, the combination of a centrifugalgovernor member adapted to receive its actuation from a rotatable shaft,an indicating and recording arm pivotally supported transversely of saidshaft, a toothed rack member, whereby-the direction and degree of swingof said arm from its normally inactive marking position is regulated bythe centrifugal position 'of said governor member, means for storing arecord sheet in such position with respect tothe indicating andrecording-arm direction generally lengthwise of said arm,

a clock mechanism for regulating the speed of travel of the sheet; andmeans adapted to normally connect said clock niechanismwith said sheetmechanism, whereby, under certain conditions, the same may beautomatically disconnected therefrom, substantially as described. 4

3. Ina speed indicator and recorder, in combination with a clockworkmechanism, a pair of rotatable storage rolls whereon and between which arecord sheet may be wound, spring driven means for causing theirrotation, automatically disconnect-ible means actuated by said clockwork mechanism whereby said rolls are automatically accelerated orretarded in their movement, a

governor member adapted to receive its actuation from a rotatable shaft,and a pivoted recording finger adapted to be caused to swing across therecord sheet by the movement of the governor member, the degree of itsswing being regulated by the rotative speed of the governor member,substantially as described.

4. A speed indicator and recorder, having, in combination with agovernor member and a supporting rotatable shaft, a pivoted indicatingand recording member adapted to be actuated thereby in direct proportionto the rotative speed of the shaft, 21 pair of rollers between which :1record sheet is adapted to travel lengthwise of said indicating andrecording member and in position to be marked by the oscillatory end ofsaid indicating and recording member, means for actuating the rollers,means for regulating the speed of rotation thereof and consequently thespeed of travel of the sheet, and an automatically disconnectible shaftfor normally correlating said re lating means and said rollers,substantia ly as described.

5. In a. speed indicator and recorder, the combination of a pair ofrotatable rolls whereon and between which a record sheet is adapted totravel, spring actuated means record sheet, clock-actuated means for relating such actuation, an automaticall isconnectible shaft connectingsaid regu ating means and said actuating means, a rotatable shaft and agovernor member carried thereby, and an indicating and recording fingerpivotally supported in position of operative connection with said shaftand governor member, and adapted to oscillate across the exposed surfaceof the moving record sheet when actuated by the rotation of said shaftand consequently of the governor member, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specifi-

